Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Heaven Star
Summary: Trowa reflects on a mission that has gone horribly wrong. Shounen-ai.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: I've decided to give another GW fic a go, simply because I love the G- boys as much as the next fangirl and this fic decided it wanted to be written! Shounen-ai warning for those that need it...  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the G-boys – the world is a cruel, cruel place. I also do not own Robert Frost's poem, so please don't sue me!  
  
Nothing Gold Can Stay – Chapter 1  
  
"Nature's first green is gold,  
  
Her hardest hue to hold.  
  
Her early leaf's a flower;  
  
But only so an hour.  
  
Then leaf subsides to leaf.  
  
So Eden sank to grief,  
  
So dawn goes down to day.  
  
Nothing gold can stay." – Robert Frost  
  
"Quatre..." A hoarse whisper escaped the teens throat, as he stared at the whitewashed ceiling of the hospital. Green eyes glazed with tears as he fought back memories, memories of that night, the night that everything changed. It had all started when -  
  
Duo had walked into the room, his braid swinging behind him like a freewheeling whip that cracked with the American's bouncy energy. The black school blazer hurled across the room to land half-hearted upon a still unmade bed where it teetered for a moment before slumping onto the floor in a heap. Seeming not to notice the Deathscythe pilot wrestled with the knot of his tie for a moment before wrenching the green, yellow and red striped abomination from his neck and sending it in the general direction of the blazer. It ended up sprawled over the bed-head.  
  
Slumping into a nearby desk chair the brunette lazily swiveled the chair around with his foot as he undone the first two buttons of his white shirt. He grinned loopily when he spotted the other teen standing in the corner,  
  
"Hey Heero, I didn't even know you were in here yet!"  
  
The 'Perfect Soldier' had pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and plucked a few neatly papers from his blazer pocket before crossing the room to present two of them to the other youth,  
  
"I thought you might like to know about this. I found it...mildly interesting, to say the least and thought you and the others might like to take a look."  
  
Duo slowly cocked one eyebrow before accepting the papers and unfolding them with a rustle. The dorm room door had swung open and the two teens looked up quickly, only to see a blond walk in with a smile as he called over his shoulder,  
  
"I'm just seeing if Odin's got the math notes! I'll join you guys in a little while!"  
  
The blond then casually closed the door behind him and with a cordial smile that reached his aquamarine eyes greeted them warmly,  
  
"Hey guys!" Then turning down his volume a little he continued, "What's the important meeting about?"  
  
Duo chuckled and cut Heero off, saying,  
  
"'Odin' think's he's found something we might all want to take a look at."  
  
Quatre may have let Duo's playful sarcasm slide with a laugh but the Wing pilot flicked his navy eyes at the American in a brief glare before holding out the papers for Quatre to look at, saying,  
  
"I found it interesting, tell me what you think."  
  
Quatre smiled and took the papers. He started to unfold them as Duo dropped his violet eyes to look at his own, a smirk tweaking the corners of his lips. The door clicked closed and Quatre whirled around, holding the papers close to his chest, light eyes alarmed before he saw who it was. Duo looked up startled, violet eyes snapping to attention, a note of seriousness fleeting across their playful depths. Heero didn't move, his eyes and had been on the door since the handle had begun to move. No matter how skilled the Heavyarms pilot was, there was no way in hell he could stop the, as Duo referred to them, "el cheapo" doors from sticking a little before they opened. The Wing pilot handed the taller youth the papers wordlessly, the eye contact telling all. Trowa took them with a brief nod.  
  
"Trowa you scared me! I didn't even hear you open the door."  
  
The blond pilot's emotive face watched the taller youth with it's angelic seeming innocence. Trowa flicked his green eyes at the smaller pilot and replied in his quiet, dulcet tone,  
  
"This meeting was supposed to be kept a secret, I wasn't about to break the door down."  
  
The blond's laughter rang through the room, a merry sound for such a serious occasion. Duo snorted and commented dryly,  
  
"Breaking down someone's door seems like standard practice in this school! Did you see the main hall doors?! I wish I'd thought of it – but before you say anything! I totally realise how much unnecessary attention it would bring me!"  
  
Violet eyes had locked on navy blues across the room and a teasing grin played across the American's handsome face. The incident he was referring to was a prank some Juniors had pulled the night before or setting firecrackers along the hinges of the main door – just to see what would happen.  
  
Clear green eyes had taken in the room and he commented quietly,  
  
"No WuFei?"  
  
There was a slight clatter in the bathroom and all four pilots tensed for a moment, eyes locked on the bathroom door. It swung open and WuFei strolled out casually, black eyes taking in the room with an arrogant calmness. There was a moment of silence before Duo started to laugh. WuFei continued to walk until he reached Heero, who handed him the papers. Behind the Shenlong pilot the braided boy snorted amidst his laughter and commented,  
  
"What if you'd got the wrong window, dude?"  
  
Coolly looking over his shoulder the Chinese youth replied,  
  
"But I didn't."  
  
Duo calmed down a little, still chuckling and an academic silence swept over the room for a moment as the four looked at the new information presented to them. Trowa looked up from his sheets and locked his eyes on Heero and asked,  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
The wing pilot nodded and replied,  
  
"I told you – I thought you all might find it... interesting."  
  
Duo looked up quickly, violet eyes serious, all traces of the amusement and laughter that had filled them only moments before had vanished to leave a steely resolve and analytical gleam to their depths.  
  
"This changes pretty much everything, doesn't it?"  
  
Heero gave him a curt nod and the American sighed before picking up the end of his braid and absent-mindedly placing its tassel-like end in his mouth as he thought. Quatre said nothing, his aquamarine orbs were re-reading the key lines in the text and analyzing their contents quickly.  
  
'Article J-216, "Concerning Ammunition"'  
  
'The base C-6418 has been successfully relocated to the abandoned open-cut mine site where operations will continue as per normal. The relocation was necessary due to increased terrorist activity, this location is in a remote location with the nearest populated area being the Des Forte Grammar School, 35 miles away.'  
  
'An increased supply of mobile suit models 'LEO' and 'ARIES' ammunition will be required in order to sustain our increased production.'  
  
Slowly the blond looked up,  
  
"It's almost as if they're playing into our hands to much, does anyone else see that?"  
  
Trowa nodded, his green eyes catching Quatre's blues and holding them as he said,  
  
"I agree, it's almost too perfect." The Heavyarms pilot blinked and turned his attention to Heero, awaiting his response. The Japanese boy was shaking his head slowly and replied,  
  
"That file was taken straight from the data-base, from their meeting minutes. It took me four hours to hack into that file, not-including the time I spent sifting through the decoy files that they had set up in case we did attempt to hack in. It's not as if they handed it to me on a silver platter with a complimentary mint."  
  
Duo snickered and quipped,  
  
"Aw, I like those!"  
  
Ignoring him Trowa asked,  
  
"So, are we planning to do anything about this?"  
  
WuFei rolled his eyes calmly before commenting,  
  
"I'd like to think so, otherwise I would have had to have faced Maxwell's bathroom for no reason. As it is I'm going to have nightmares about the hairballs in the shower."  
  
Duo swung his desk chair around and replied indignantly,  
  
"Hey! No-one was stopping you using the door, buddy!"  
  
Quatre cleared his throat and cut them off,  
  
"Guys, I'm hoping we've all pretty much come to the conclusion that we're going to abort our current mission and tackle this base and then sit back and watch their reactions before we decide our next move."  
  
Duo tore his glaring eyes away from WuFei to ask with a sly grin,  
  
"So - what's our current move going to be?" 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to those that reviewed – a point was made that I should have clarified in the first chapter but didn't! Quatre referred to Heero as 'Odin' because I figured that when everyone's favourite G-Boys went to school they probably wouldn't use their real names – for obvious reasons. I've read a few fics that agreed with this theory and the most common 'code name' for Heero was Odin – after the man who trained Heero and died in 'Episode Zero'. My apologies – I made the assumption that it was a GW fandom based thing – obviously not! Please keep reviewing and I'll try to clarify any points that might cause issues!  
  
Disclaimer: (Cut and Paste your favourite witty disclaimer here!)  
  
Nothing Gold Can Stay – Chapter 2  
  
"What were we thinking, Quatre?" The white ceiling of the hospital swung crazily and the Heavyarms pilot recognised the symptoms of a blackout before letting go and falling into ebony arms.  
  
Heero pulled out a pen and indicating towards a stack of paper on the desk behind Duo, Duo reached behind himself clumsily and his hand alighted on the stack and he grabbed a handful – the majority of the pile floating to the floor with a hiss. Grinning Duo handed the half- crumpled handful to the Wing pilot, who took it without a word. Instead he walked towards the others and knelt on the ground, picking up a folder from a nearby pile to lean on as he did so. Clicking the pen to life the Japanese boy quickly sketched out a map – labeling the school, the surrounding roads and pathways and the quarry.  
  
Tapping the map Heero said,  
  
"There's three possible routes we can take to get to the quarry – each, naturally with pros and cons."  
  
He flicked blue eyes up to check for comments, when there were none he continued, indicating to the map,  
  
"We can take the main highway which runs to the west of the school and then 34 miles down the highway we cut off and go through this scrubby area here for a mile or so. I'm also assuming there'll be some kind of fencing and probably some sort of surveillance equipment. The pros to this one is it's direct and will take the least amount of time – cons; we'll need some form of transport for the 34 miles and then when we leave we'll have to go back the same way – through the fence and down the highway. With 34 miles they'll have time to catch us, particularly since that part of the highway is virtually dead straight."  
  
"Aw yeah! Bring on the drag race, baby!!" Duo said with a laugh and got glared at for his trouble. The braided boy stuck his tongue out sarcastically at the Wing pilot and Heero continued,  
  
"There's also an abandoned sewer system that runs beneath the school and meets up inside the quarry – they used to use it to remove the waste from, the quarry. Pros – its discreet and it's a vast system that we have a chance of losing them, if they give chase, in. Cons – we don't know if they've blocked their end or if they're using it instead of the new sewer system so they can't be detected as easily, also if they do catch us we've got little room to move, there's also the problem of us getting lost."  
  
They all nodded and took in Heero's map before Wufei asked,  
  
"Where's the opening to the sewer from our end?"  
  
Heero tapped the map and Duo peered at it before starting to laugh,  
  
"The girls bathroom! Wufei – you're good at getting into bathrooms! Let's do that one!"  
  
Wufei glared at him and Quatre held out a hand and said,  
  
"Guys! Let's hear the third option and then we can discuss this properly – we're wasting time by debating it now."  
  
Quatre turned his gaze to Heero who nodded in thanks before he continued,  
  
"The third option is to take a back route out of the school to the north and then cutting across the highway to go through the scrub and forest area on the other side and head east along the highway. Pros – it's discreet, cons – it'll take us forever to get there. However I figured if we take that route we can always leave by the sewers..."  
  
"That could be risky," The quiet Heavyarms pilot spoke up, "Considering we don't know if it's been blocked from their end we might find ourselves blocked in."  
  
"True – but we might also find that they don't know about the old system. Where did you find out about it, Heero?" Quatre asked, aquamarine eyes serious and contemplative as he looked first at Trowa and then at Heero.  
  
"School records – a few years back they stopped using it out of a public protest to the quarry. The sewer system was ultimately removed and the quarry created a new one on a new line and the school created it's own on a separate one."  
  
"So what makes you think they might be using the old one?" Wufei asked, his ebony brows lowered a little as he thought. Heero shrugged and commented,  
  
"It's a possibility, that's all. It's also possible they don't even know of it's existence or don't want to use it, for whatever reason. It's a possibility so I included it."  
  
Wufei nodded and Quatre asked,  
  
"Why don't we use the highway to get there and then we have the option for our escape route – we can either take our transport back to the school and dump it somewhere or we can use the sewer system?"  
  
"That's an idea..." Duo said, his violet eyes sparking before they settled and he asked Heero,  
  
"So we've got a vague idea of how we're getting there and leaving, what's the plan for when we're there? Are we destroying files or their production line? Or are we just sussing it out and coming back later?"  
  
Trowa shook his head and said,  
  
"It's too closed in. There's no easy way to access and leave that we've found. We have to destroy something. I'd suggest the production lines and their Leo and Aries supplies rather than the files, we can hack into the files at some later time so it's not in our best interests to destroy them. We can't survey it and come back later, we won't have the chance."  
  
Quatre nodded and said,  
  
"I agree – it'd be nice to be able to survey what we're up against, especially in terms of the sewers but we're not going to get that chance."  
  
"So, we're taking some form of transport along the highway and then getting into the base on foot, destroying as much of the Leo and Aries production system as we can and then leaving either through the transport down the highway or through the sewers?" Duo asked, his violet eyes' searching the others faces for some sort of confirmation. Heero nodded and asked,  
  
"Any ideas on transport and weaponry? We'll also need more information on the base's layout and what we should expect to come up against in terms of guards and machinery."  
  
Trowa nodded before commenting, his emerald eyes calm,  
  
"I'd suggest some form of firearm for us to carry on us, a pistol of some kind, not for any heavy machine fire – just in case. Some rifles and heavier firearms in the transport vehicle, in case we use that as our escape and need to cover ourselves. Small explosives, the quick-set kind," He looked at Heero, "You know the kind I mean?"  
  
"The 'Stick-It-On-A-Wall-Press-The-Button-In-10-Seconds-It-Explodes' kind."  
  
Wufei chuckled and Trowa nodded,  
  
"That's them."  
  
"We can get those, no problems." Heero said, "I agree with the need for a personal pistol of some sort – only for emergencies, we're not there to kill everyone in the vicinity. The heavier artillery in the vehicle's a good idea as well, my only concern is we need something that travels reasonably fast – what did you have in mind?"  
  
"Something reasonably big – the bigger the target the less accurately they feel they have to shoot, just to hit it is a victory. The smaller the target the more they have to aim and the more likely it is that they hit something vital. I doubt we'll be able to find any armoured vehicles near- by but a normal truck might hinder our chances speed wise..."  
  
"They'll most likely give chase in an armoured vehicle of some description – a truck, perhaps. So we might be able to get away with that..." Wufei said thoughtfully.  
  
"How about a Ute?" Quatre asked, a glint in his innocent seeming eyes, "That Physics teacher drives one. We could stick two of us in the tray to shoot over the tail, one driving, two more in the cab – one shooting out the window. If they come up on the drivers side the third person can take the wheel while the driver shoots."  
  
Heero nodded and Trowa asked,  
  
"What about the glass panel behind the cab, the rear windscreen? That won't hold up to many, bullets and we'll have a problem if the driver gets shot in the head..."  
  
"I'm sure we could whip up some sort of armoured board to cover that, the driver would have to use his wing mirrors exclusively, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem..."  
  
Trowa nodded at Quatre with approval that passed from emerald depths to aquamarine,  
  
"Let's collect the information on the base and firearms as we can and then we'll meet back and go finalise everything."  
  
Heero nodded and said,  
  
"I've got the codes to the files where I found the original information, the base blueprints shouldn't be too far from that."  
  
"Good, I'll check into firearms and artillery," He turned to look at Quatre, "Can you look into the sewer systems? See where they travel to and from?"  
  
Quatre nodded,  
  
"Sure."  
  
Heero looked at Duo,  
  
"I want you to contact Dr J and tell him the change in plans," He glanced at Wufei, "I'm trusting you know how to create a bulletproof plate for the Ute."  
  
"Easily." The Chinese boy said with a smug grin. Heero nodded and glanced at his watch,  
  
"Meet back here in three days – 2030." 


End file.
